“The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society, and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust.” – James Madison

Government isn’t evil. People are evil, not institutions or things. An army, a gun, isn’t evil, but they certainly can be, and have been, used by evil people, for evil purposes. And this describes governments down through history as well.

I have often said that government is a “necessary evil.” That isn’t quite accurate; it is, sadly, “necessary.” If all men were angels, Mr. Madison said, we wouldn’t need government. But, obviously, all men aren’t angels, thus some restraining force is required to curb what evil men do. Governments should be established for that purpose, and it is a legitimate one. The apostle Paul, in Romans 13, describes the reality of our world even today by talking about the rationale for government and what our response to it should be. Even Jesus’s “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” recognizes the truth that government is required in this present evil age.

But while government itself isn’t evil, it can, as noted, do evil things—if it is controlled by evil men. And that has, way too often in human history, been the case. One of the great temptations that plagues some humans is the........

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